Isle of Wight News on Ventnor Blog

Three fishermen whose boat was crippled by its own anchor rope were literally hauled out of their predicament in a wind-swept Solent by Cowes RNLI lifeboat yesterday (Wednesday).

The emergency began just before 1pm when the fishermen radioed that their anchor rope had become wrapped around one of the two propellers of their 32 foot motor-cruiser Arco Bellina off Thorness.

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Well done to the friends of Cowes and East Cowes RNLI who recently volunteered their time and energy.

Thanks to the Cowes RNLI for sending this in – great to see people having fun while raising money for this good cause – Ed.

Healthy exercise and infectious exuberance were much in evidence when people eagerly took up the challenge to play their part in an unusual circumnavigation challenge set by Cowes and East Cowes members of the RNLI.

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In the list of proposed cuts to Isle of Wight council services to close the £11.6m funding gap are two items concern the Cowes chain ferry.

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As of 6pm tonight the Cowes Floating Bridge will be taken out of service for essential maintenance.

A drive shaft has failed after 34 years of service and needs replacing, but as this part cannot be sourced immediately, it will have to be manufactured – locally happily.

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This in from the council – Ed

The floating bridge service will be suspended between approximately 8:30am and 2pm on Wednesday 9, December 2009 – so that replacement chains can be fitted.

A launch service will be in operation to transfer pedestrians across the river and a road diversion signed via Newport for motorists.

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If you were following the live coverage of the planning committee earlier on VB you would have seen that the committee have approved the application for a new Waitrose store in East Cowes.

Concerns were raised by residents and members of the committee over traffic and the building being out of keeping. However, the application went to a vote after over an hour of discussion, with seven votes in favour and two against.

Read the full, live transcript of the planning meeting for more detail.

The IWC Planning Committee are considering an application to build a new Waitrose supermarket in East Cowes.

Live report from County Hall provided to the best of our ability.

[16:06] Area of East Cowes Superstore outlined on the map on the screen. Superstore, 200 space car park. New town square and landscaping. Car park accessible via Castle Street

Photos of area being shown. Broadly, it’s the block behind Venture Quays. Part of the site reserved for future development. 18,000 sq ft of shop

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VB will be providing live coverage of the Planning Committee this afternoon, as members consider an application to build a new Waitrose store in East Cowes.

The application, which is welcomed by many as part of the regeneration, also has its fair share of opponents making it a contentious subject.

Tune your browsers in to VB from just after 4pm for live updates.

View plans and comments for the Waitrose application on the IWC Website.

Looks like all cross-Solent ferries are running normally today (excluding the timetable changes to WightLink we reported yesterday).

Hovertravel are warning that there may be disruption, so recommend calling them on 811000 prior to travel to get the latest.

We’ll let you know if we hear of any changes to the services.

Image: Air Babble under CC BY-SA 2.0

Did you know that every three hours, one person in the UK dies of mouth cancer? Add to that, the fact that incidence of mouth cancer has risen by 25% over the last ten years and it makes for quite shocking statistics.

So it’s encouraging to hear that the Island’s NHS Oral Health Promotion Team will be carrying out Free Mouth Cancer Screening across the Island in a couple of weeks time.

Mouth Cancer Action Week takes place during 15 – 22 November and a mobile dental screening unit will be touring the Island offering free screening as well as advice and information.

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Poor old Red Osprey, just when they thought she was better, we hear of more ‘technical difficulties’.

Not good news for those hoping to catch the 0515 to East Cowes or the 0630 to Southampton tomorrow morning. Both crossing are cancelled.

Mind you, if you’re planning to be up that earlier, you’re probably not going to be reading this message at quarter to midnight!

It’s rather unfortunate that the day following announcement of potential job losses at Red Funnel, that the company have considerable disruption to their car ferry service between East Cowes and Southampton.

If you’re planning to travel today, take note of the changes below.

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Following the strike at the end of August, many postal workers on the Isle of Wight will be holding strike action again today.

The workers are objecting to changes in working practices and full-time jobs being reduced to part-time jobs without agreement.

The strike will affect Cowes, East Cowes, Newport and Yarmouth, as well as surrounding villages.

Image: August strike action by Chris Ash

Community learning courses are spread across the Island, previous covered were Ventnor and Newport.

Next up it’s the turn of Cowes and East Cowes.

CITY AND GUILDS ITQ LEVEL 1
For those experienced with computers that would like to gain a recognised qualification. Learning Word, PowerPoint, Publisher, Excel and the internet.

Venue: Osborne Middle School
Start Date: Monday 21 September
Sessions: 15 sessions
Time: 12.30pm – 2.30pm
Tutor: Annette Whaley
Course Fee: £75 (£50 concessions)

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About three weeks ago, the roof top protesters at Venture Quays in East Cowes made the decision to end their occupation.

After they’d cleared the area on the roof of the building and passed down their belongings, the three remaining protesters abseiled down the side of the building to be met by a crowd of supporters and media.

We caught up with Martin Shaw who was the first of the three to come down.

He told us what an amazing coalition there had been between Vestas workers, RMT and political activists. He said it felt like a mini ‘climate camp’ on roof as they were saving rain water, composting and using solar power to keep phone and laptops charged.

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Following what looked like a very easy descent from the roof of Venture Quays in East Cowes we caught up with Jacqueline, one of the eight protesters who have been peacefully occupying the top of the building for the last 11 days.

She told us how the fireworks night at the end of Cowes Week was a great night on the roof – not just because of the prime position for viewing the annual event, but also because they had some new protesters join them that night.

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The three remaining protesters occupying the roof of Venture Quays in East Cowes have now made their descent from the roof top and are enjoying cups of coffee supplied by those friendly folk from the Classic Boat Museum Gallery.

A group of supporters on the ground and many working within the Venture Quays building looked out from windows as the protesters all made their individual exits abseiling down the side of the building.

The other five protesters had left at different times over the last 12 hours and all that remains on the roof top now are some of the banners that had been tied to the side of the building during the roof top protest.

We were told that the protest will now move further inland, starting with a march to Island MP, Andrew Turner’s office this afternoon when he’ll be holding his weekly surgery.

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Dependent on mobile reception, we hope to bring you the departure of protesters on the roof of Venture Quays live.

The latest twist in the Vestas protest will see those occupying the roof of Venture Quays in East Cowes make a dramatic exit from the building at around 11am this morning.

We first heard the news on Isle of Wight Radio news and chatting to those on the roof, they confirmed that they plan to leave the roof top occupation, which began just under two weeks ago, later this morning.

We will aim to cover their departure from the roof at Venture Quays in East Cowes live on VB.

Check for updates throughout the morning.

The five rallies held around the Island yesterday to show support for the redundant Vestas workers (it was made official yesterday) were reported to have gone down really well.

Organisers gathered over 500 signatures on the new petition which will be presented to the Isle of Wight Council when they meet with workers next week and on the fundraising front, they managed to raise over £1000 in just two and a half hours.

We attended the evening rally (video footage to follow) in East Cowes which saw around 120 people gather for the speeches and then march through East Cowes. There was a great response from passersby and people hanging out of their windows whistling with support.

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The 6pm rally outside Vestas last night saw Mark Smith take to the microphone.

He gave the supporters an update on what had been happening over the past couple of days and reminded people of the lunchtime rallies taking place today on the National Day of Action.

Between 12-2pm there will be rallies in St Thomas’ Square in Newport and outside Thorntons in Ryde High Street.

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As Vestas workers stated at the rally on Saturday afternoon, the occupation of the management offices might be over, but the fight to save the 600 job losses at Vestas Blades UK Ltd is certainly not.

There were some passionate speeches made at the rally on Saturday, all echoing the call for solidarity with the 600 workers who have lost their jobs and urging people across the UK to take part in a Day of Action this Wednesday.

The crowds watching the rally were told of 30-40 groups across the country who have planned action tomorrow, be it to stop working for an hour or for the entire day in support of the Vestas workers.

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Many thanks to Jason Grant for rushing down to East Cowes to shoot these pics after reading about it on VentnorBlog.

He has sent through initial photos of the occupation of Venture Quays at East Cowes.

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On the morning of the Vestas court case, in a surprise twist of events, Climate Camp activists and member of the RMT took occupation of the roof of Vestas site in East Cowes.

Stating their solidarity for the workers in occupation at the Newport factory, the Climate activists told VB how at 4am this morning they jumped over the fence at Venture Quays in East Cowes and made their way up onto the roof by ladder.

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Luke White played at Osborne House last night supporting Simply Red.

He’d been on Twitter (what’s Twitter ?) in the run up to the gig sending out a couple of photos of the place when it was empty, including the view from the stage.

Post gig this morning it was clear it was a fun gig for him, as he Tweeted, “Was the best fun on stage last night, definatley the best crowed we’ve ever played to…thanks Isle of Wight!”

Big up the Isle of Wight!

Luke White on MySpace

Photos and video of Simply Red at Osborne House